A van selling snacks to the public in the Staffordshire town of Burton-upon-Trent has been found to be ignoring food hygiene rules, potentially putting the health of local customers at risk.

East Staffordshire Borough Council sent members of its environmental health team to inspect Deano’s Snack Van and found a number of serious food hygiene lapses. These included food being stored at the wrong temperature, in a fridge that wasn’t working, and that there was no provision for cleaning down work surfaces.

Staff also seemed to lack even basic food hygiene training, as inspectors found that they weren’t washing their hands, had no idea about temperature control and were risking cross contamination of raw and cooked food products as food preparation areas and equipment were not being properly cleaned.

The snack van was given a zero star food hygiene rating by the council, and the results of the inspection were made public as part of its Rate My Place scheme. Staff members working for the business were also told to take a food hygiene training course to improve their skills and knowledge of food safety practices.